Automatic cartons, boxes, and containers are ones which can be quickly and easily set up or deployed in an erected condition without necessitating several operations of manually tucking in, cementing, or lockingly engaging various elements provided for those purposes. Automatic cartons having a self-locking feature are ones having a structure which is generally self-supporting after erection even when a relatively light grade of container stock is employed. In a collapsible carton, the carton can be readily folded and stored flat for subsequent use. A collapse-resistant carton is a self-locking carton which is substantially rigid after erection to the extent that parts of the carton have to be ripped, distorted, bent or folded to defeat the self-locking feature; such a carton truly resists collapse.
Because of space considerations, storage and/or dispensing requirements, containers are generally shipped and stored in a flat or folded condition rather than in an open or erect condition. When it is desired to use the container for receiving products to be shipped or dispensed, the folded container is manipulated by the user from its flat or collapsed condition to an open or unfolded condition after which the product may be placed in the opened container. For quick change from folded to open condition, simple manipulation is desirable which will automatically provide a closed bottom so that the product can be introduced and carried away by the user.
There are many operations in industry wherein a product is sent to one location for modification or repair and then returned to the originator or another user. In these cases, it is desirable to provide a carton or container which can be readily folded for temporary storage while the repair or modification is being performed. Later the folded carton can be removed from storage, opened, filled with the product, and sent back to the originator.
Similarly, there are operations in industry wherein the particular product to be packaged possesses sufficient rigidity such that the container itself need not be substantially self-supporting in its own right. In other words, where the product to be packaged is loose or of an amorphous form, the shipping container should be one having a substantially erect and self-supporting collapse-resistant construction; on the other hand, where the product is rigid and of a form generally resembling a box, a self-supporting structure may not necessarily required.
Finally, it is well known that many purchasers of goods save the shipping container after use. The container provides a convenient storage device. In addition, it is often used to protect the finish of products which are not used too often. As far as the end user is concerned, an automatic self-locking carton may not be desirable. By offering to customers, particularly consumers, a shipping container that can be readily collapsed and reused at a later time, the manufacturer can provide a value added feature to his product that builds good will at virtually no additional cost. A combination automatic, self-locking, self-supporting, collapse-resistant carton would then serve the needs of both the manufacturer and the customer. It would be a unique and valuable addition to the market place.
Various cartons having an automatic bottom closing feature have heretofore been provided; however, such cartons were single purpose designs featuring and interlocking construction emphasizing simple, easy, erection without any inherent strength. These prior designs were at most "self-locking"; by no means, could they be considered to be collapse resistant. Typical examples of such structures are: Smart U.S. Pat. No. 2,388,190; Gastright U.S. Pat. No. 2,676,750; and Ullrich U.S. Pat. No. 2,326,417--all of which disclose single purpose designs not suited to easy modification or reuse nor inherently collapse-resistant.
Thus, users of automatic cartons are forced into buying three kinds of cartons--those which are self-erecting and self-locking, those which are self-erecting and non-locking, and those which are self-erecting and collapse resistant. In other words, it would be desirable to have a box or carton that can be used for many uses at the option of the purchaser or end user. Accordingly, there has been a long-felt need to provide a corrugated carton construction which can be used for a variety of purposes.